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What we do

California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. (CRLA) provides free legal services and education to tens of thousands of low-income residents of California’s rural counties and litigates cases that benefit even more people.

Rural California needs your support.

With your support, we can help our clients get fair pay for their hard work, find and stay in safe housing, access healthcare, ensure quality education for their children, and more.

Please make a gift today to help CRLA expand access to justice for low-income rural Californians through free legal services and systemic advocacy. Every donation makes a difference!

Watch CRLA’s new executive director, Jessica M. Jewell, share her social justice story and vision for CRLA.

About CRLA

California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. (CRLA) is a nonprofit law firm founded in 1966 to provide free civil legal services to low-income residents of California's rural counties.

CRLA is the leading civil legal aid organization serving rural California’s diverse low-income communities with seventeen offices spanning the state, from El Centro in the Imperial Valley to Santa Rosa and Marysville in the north, to the Central Valley and Central Coast. Our client communities include farmworkers, people with disabilities, immigrants, school children, LGBTQ+ people, seniors, veterans, and people with limited English proficiency.

California has the fifth largest economy in the world but also the highest poverty rate in the United States under the U.S. Census Bureau’s Supplemental Poverty Measure. Nearly one in five Californians live in poverty, and rural counties are the most under-resourced.

Since its founding, CRLA has committed fifty percent of staff time and resources to direct legal services for low-income clients and fifty percent to impact litigation that addresses root causes of poverty. The organization has a strong history of pivotal civil rights advocacy in housing, employment, K-12 education, healthcare access, community development, and environmental justice.

The experiences and needs of rural communities continue to shape CRLA’s emerging areas of practice, including mobile home parks, reentry, and disaster relief.

Thank you for your support!

Help expand access to justice for low-income rural Californians!

Donate today to help CRLA meet the increased need for legal services in rural California. Our goal is to raise $5,000 by December 31st.

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